BOSTON — Auditor Suzanne Bump’s exorbitant travel expenses are under fire after a review published in today’s Boston Herald revealed she spent thousands on needless hotels to avoid commuting.

While Bump spends taxpayer dollars freely on her hotel rooms, Massachusetts families suffer through brutal commutes every day. In one instance, Bump charged a hotel room on taxpayers’ dime because the thirty-minute commute to an Ashland conference was too much. Meanwhile, a recent Boston Globe study found that hard-working commuters from Ashland face one of the most difficult commutes in the Commonwealth.

“Suzanne Bump has clearly had Massachusetts taxpayers subsidizing her needless travel expenses for too long.” said MassGOP Chairman Kirsten Hughes. “While Bump enjoys a convenient stay in a hotel, the taxpayers footing the bill are stuck in traffic, trying to get to work and pay the bills. This incredible lack of fiscal discipline is simply astonishing from the state’s supposed taxpayer watchdog.”

Background:

Suzanne Bump Racked Up A Nearly-$30,000 Bill For Travel Expenses, Including A Stay At An Ashland Hotel To Avoid The Commute.

“State Auditor Suzanne Bump since taking office has racked up nearly $30,000 in travel expenses, including jetting off to 16 out-of-state conferences, booking hotel rooms for events only miles from her home…
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“[Bump] charged $560 for a hotel stay for a February 2013 conference in Ashland, roughly 30 miles away from Bump’s South Boston condo. Her office again pointed to an early start time in defending the hotel stay.”

(Matt Stout, “State Auditor Suzanne Bump racks up hefty travel bill,” Boston Herald, 9/15/15)

The Ashland Commuters Who Help Foot The Taxpayer Bill For Bump Face One Of The Worst Commutes In The State

“Just how bad was your commute this morning? Everybody talks about the traffic, but we at The Boston Globe decided to do something about it.
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“Nevertheless, it was a neck-and-neck slog — about an hour and a half — for our drivers from Ashland and Scituate.”
(Leslie Anderson, “Who won the Great Commuter Race?, ” Boston Globe, 9/9/15)

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